Occulus Infernum
by Miandrethal
Summary: The Gundam Guys are teachers at a strange school. Rater R for gore, blood, some sexual situations, and some religious/ satanic references.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes**

To all of the people waiting on the Price of Peace to be finished, fear not, it is not on the backburner and once Christmas rolls around I promise that it will be finished. Until then, I thought I'd try a little gothic allegory for a while. This isn't going to be that long, probably only eight chapters. When I started writing this it was going to be a one-shot and full of sap. I love Trowa paired with my original character Roddy, so I simply thought I'd write a sappy "how they met" story. I guess I was in a strange mood. My roommate and fellow writer, Jinakel Wohess, got _Angel Sanctuary_ in on the same day that I started writing this fic and the whole story just took a strange turn.

Not wanting to give away the plot or some of the surprise, I would just want to say that his story starts off slow and the characters are a bit flat, but that's for a reason. This is an allegorical tale (a metaphor of sorts) one to be told with beautiful, gothic images so the characters do suffer a bit. But fear not, we do delve into the psyche of most of the characters good and bad. I now you have no idea as to what I'm talking about, so just read. J  Without further adieu, I give you Occulus Infernum

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, but I so wish that I did.

Occulus Infernum

Chapter 1

Roddy Adelphia stared blankly from the utterly pristine teacher's parking lot at her new teaching assignment.  It was like no place she'd ever seen, other than the expensiveness of the cars, which ranged from older, classic American vehicles, to that of newer more expensive Asian and European cars, the parking lot was void of trash of any kind, with newly pressed asphalt and perfectly, crisply lined yellow and white spaces. It wasn't hard to tell that her new assignment was of the upper crust, something vastly different than she was used to. She was more accustomed to a lower class working environment, with little to no school funding but with a high interest in learning from students.

She stepped out of her eggplant purple Chevy Lumina to get a better look about the grounds; it was utterly ridiculous the amount of money these teachers had. She snorted and closed the door, locking it and walked towards the school. She shouldn't have been surprised, at her old assignment the teachers there warned her about the stark lines between poor public school and filthy rich private school. One woman from her previous place of employment even tried to convince Roddy to stay, but the increase in pay was what took her attention. Now Roddy could see the severe differences in teacher salaries. 

Not only were the differences in the teacher's salaries rather severe, the grounds of this school were immaculate. She stopped along her journey from the teacher parking lot to the front door of the school and stared. It was just like the picture from the pamphlet included in her assignment package. The school sat on what looked to be a 42-acre site deep in the heart of up-state New York. A warm breeze rustled the oak and maple trees that amply surrounded the campus, and the emerald, flawlessly cut lawn sparkled like that of a movie. She shook her head from the shock and kept moving towards the entrance. The school in itself was a feast to the eyes, tall white marble column entrance laid upon the deep, blood red brick of the actual building. The three-story main building was where she was headed, to register and get her room assignment; she felt more like she was entering a hotel or government capitol building rather than a place of high school education.

She climbed the concrete steps to the front entrance. Over the front entrance door read a simple sign in Old English script OUR LADY OF THE IMACULATE CONCEPTION. Roddy sighed inwardly, and opened the white painted wooden door.  It was just what she expected. The hallways were spotless with the floor being so waxed that she could see up her own skirt. She smirked as she walked down the hallway and eyed the whitewashed walls and the honey-colored lockers. She even chuckled a bit at the large sign that stretched over her head that read WELCOME BACK STUDENTS AND TEACHERS.  She stared blankly at the large sign and smile, she'd never been here before, she could only imagine the excitement of a new student as they walked into the hallways of OLIC.

"You look like you're lost," a gentle feminine voice piped up from behind her. Roddy turned and look at the most genuinely pretty face she'd seen in while. The woman was a bit shorter than her, and Roddy was short without her massive high heels. The woman had unbelievably smooth, pale skin that shone erotically in the soft hallway lights. Her luxuriously thick, russet hair was up in a tight bun at the nape of her neck, and her brown eyes shown with genuine care and worry. The woman was wearing a modest calf-length, navy blue skirt and white shell that neither accentuated nor detracted from her figure. 

"I am just a bit." Roddy replied with a confused smile.

"I'm Jina Wohess, you must be the new teacher." She said offering a strong handshake. Roddy took the hand and shook just as firmly, never breaking eye contact.

"Yes, Roddy Adelphia, I'm looking for the main office."

"Follow me, I know how confusing OLIC can be on your first visit." Jina said stepping in front of Roddy and walking them both towards the office. Roddy quickly caught up in step with Jina and they were soon walking side by side.

"What exactly do you teach here?"

"I got my degree in deaf education, but mostly I teach a muted Biology class."

" Muted?"

"The theory of evolution is not exactly boasted in a Catholic school, besides, it was a pun" Jina chuckled low and rolled her eyes. Roddy smiled acknowledging that fact and continued to walk down the expansive hallway of her new school.

"What about you, why have you arrived so highly decorated by Father Lived?"

"I'm going to be the new Literature teacher."

"Ah yes, Sister Mary Francis passed over the summer. You're going to have some large shoes to fill. Mary Francis taught here for over 25 years."  Jina smiled at Roddy knowingly.

"I'm sure I can manage." Roddy responded smiling back.  The clicking sounds of fingers hitting computer keys and the tell-tale beep of the telephone signaled Roddy that they'd indeed reached the office. It was a small door, something that she would have thought was a classroom had it not been for the placard outside of the honey-colored door plainly marked with black letters that read OFFICE. Jina, being as polite as possible, held the door for Roddy and followed her in. 

Everything in the office seemed to be moving quite fast, people were ushering up and down the small walkway between desks. The UPS man was pushing his large cart and the small, dark-haired vividly blue-eyed secretary was answering phones, filling out paperwork for the UPS man, and playing some strange card game on her computer screen. Jina smiled at the woman behind the dark brown oak desk; the secretary smiled back but put a forefinger up in the air as to hold all conversation while she was on the phone. Roddy looked down at the placard on her desk and it read Hilde Schbeiker.

"You must be Roddy Adelphia," Hilde stated as she hung up the phone smiling and offering a firm handshake.

"Does everyone know me around here?" Roddy looked to Jina who only shrugged as an answer.

"Father Lived gave us all a bio so we'd know who you were. You're a lot prettier than your picture." Roddy smirked and nodded her head.

"Does Father Lived have my assignment?" Hilde, smiling in her movements, looked around her desk and picked up three different colored pieces of paper and handed them to Roddy, who nodded in return. 

Just as quickly as Hilde had come to talk to Roddy her attentions quickly swayed to the familiar baritone that echoed down the hall and into the open office door. Roddy and Jina both looked, trying to see what Hilde was staring so intently at, then Jina smiled warmly and knowingly.

"Father Maxwell, the one man that looks too damn good to be a priest." Jina whispered in Roddy's ear at hearing the voice come down the hall. Roddy looked at Jina with shocked amber eyes but was quickly returned to the door of the office to the most beautiful violet eyes she'd ever seen. He was smiling jovially, two small dimples appearing on the side of his round cheeks. Chestnut bangs messily hung over his forehead but not too much for Roddy could still see the large violet eyes. He was talking to man behind him, obviously a fellow teacher that looked stern and quiet. It was an Asian man, probably Japanese, with messy, thick chocolate locks and deep-set sapphire eyes. They were discussing, mostly Father Maxwell, the intricacies of the first day of school until entering the office. The man behind Father Maxwell made a fleeting glance at Jina and a slight smirk aligned his features. Roddy turned to look at Jina, who was also smirking, then back to the two men at the office entrance.

"You must be the new teacher," Maxwell said walking quickly towards the coffee maker, winking at Hilde on his way in.

"Yes, Roddy…"

"Adelphia, we already know. You're a lot more striking than your picture." Maxwell commented, raising her hand to his lips and kissing it. Roddy blushed slightly then pulled her hand away for safe measure; he was a priest after all.

"I'm Father Duo Maxwell, most people call me Duo, and I teach Religion Studies. This silent man right here making lustful eye contact with Jina is Heero Yuy, he teaches Calculus." Roddy offered a hand to Heero and they both shook hands firmly.

"You're the Heero Yuy that's helped OLIC win the Calculus bowl five years in a row."

"Hai," he responded in a deep guttural Japanese. Roddy jumped back, a bit frightened by the throaty response but Jina stilled her.

"Don't be frightened, he's just being over dramatic." Jina said smiling at Heero then back at Roddy.

"You keep up with OLIC?" Heero asked, his voice much softer than before. Roddy smiled and tried to look at ease with the strange man.

"I try. I've been teaching for as long as any of you and I try to keep up with my colleagues in the field. I was extremely excited when I got a letter from OLIC."

"Welcome. Excuse me." Heero said walking over to the coffee machine and getting himself and Jina some coffee. Roddy cocked her eyebrow and smiled then looked at Hilde.

"They've been dating for almost three months now, if you couldn't tell from the google eyes." Hilde informed her of Heero and Jina's relationship status. Roddy nodded and smiled politely then looked down at her room assignment. She smiled politely once again and left the office, idly searching for her room. Room 203, it was obviously on the second floor so she headed towards the stair.  Once she reached the second floor landing she surveyed the hallways; once again pristine cleanliness washed over the honeyed walls. There were joyful posters hanging in the hallway, their only reasons to motivate and stimulate the students to deeper thoughts. She smirked inwardly, pretty soon students would be filling up these hallways and she would start her new year at a new school; it was all so exciting to her. She smiled, smoothed her skirt and walked down the hallway a bit faster, glancing at the room numbers atop the doors.

Roddy noticed a trend in all of the rooms around hers and on the second floor. All the rooms on this floor either pertained to English, Foreign Language, or History. They all had the floors sectioned off to make it easier for the students to get to class. The numbers on the doors were numbered rather oddly; mostly not in a recurring fashion even skipping whole numbers altogether. Roddy sighed in defeat, thinking that she'd completely passed her door, she dug into her satchel to pull out the papers that Hilde had given her. Not watching the front of her and being utterly preoccupied, Roddy crashed head on into an unknown taller person. Papers went flying everywhere, the sound of a coffee cup crashing into the floor echoed throughout the dark morning hallways and Roddy went slamming to the ground, landing on her backside with a hard thwack.

When the smoke cleared and the last piece of paper had officially settled to the ground, Roddy finally looked up to see a stoic tanned male. She could see that her inattentiveness caused him to spill a good portion of his hot coffee all over his prior crisp, blue oxford shirt. Some of the creamy, bittersweet liquid trickled from his bushy dirty brown bangs onto his navy blue dress slacks. He'd obviously had a hand-full of paperwork, no doubt his lesson plan, and now it was scattered all over the hallway and around the both of them. Roddy looked around frantically for something that was salvageable and her eyes landed on a pair of black, square-framed glasses and she leaned over to reach for the pair and handed it to him in a sort of apology. He snatched them quickly from her hand and placed them on his face adjusting them slightly so that they wouldn't slip down his sticky face.

"I'm so sorry," Roddy said standing and offering a hand to him after picking up a load of sticky, brown stained papers. He jumped up without her help, snatched the papers with equal disdain as his glasses and stormed towards his classroom. She stared after him apologetically, grabbed her satchel from the floor and walked towards the bathroom to get some paper towels to clean herself and the mess up.

When she returned from her bathroom venture back to the puddle of brown coffee in the middle of the floor she realized that the man she'd bumped into earlier had changed into a crisp white shirt and was diligently on his hands and knees wiping up the puddle of coffee. She blushed slightly as she stood in front of the closing bathroom door, the squeak of the door alerting him to her presence.

"Who are you?" he asked softly, soaking brown liquid into a weak paper towel. She was shocked. Did he not get the memo? Everyone else on the faculty knew whom she was, where she was born and all of her credentials since birth. They even knew that her picture didn't do her justice. She cocked an eyebrow at this enigma and cleared her throat.

"I'm Roddy Adelphia, the new Literature teacher." She said getting down on her knees next to him and helping soak up the coffee from the floor. He looked up at her with intense complexity in his green eyes then back down to his task.

"Your picture doesn't do you justice," he replied so softly that if the hallway weren't dead silent she wouldn't have been able to hear his reply. He looked from the task over to the window that had a stream of sunlight gleaming through it. She finally got a good chance to look at him and was instantly impressed. His skin was an olive tan that was saved for those of Spanish descent, creamy and mocha with just a hint of cinnamon coloring and oh so smooth. His hair wasn't dirty brown like she originally thought, but a silky auburn that shined like the golden sun and drooped messily into his large almond-shaped green eyes. It was almost a shame that his glasses covered the jade orbs. Almost. The glasses added something to his character; the glasses made him surlier, studious and academic, and even added a bit of innocent sex appeal to him. Roddy was floored.

"You should watch where you're going from now on." He said as he finished cleaning up his side of the mote of coffee. Roddy narrowed her eyes and watched him walk away, his lithe body emanating confidence in every smooth step of his gait.

"Looks like you've spilled your coffee," a kind tenor voice sounded behind her. Roddy turned to see the shining face of a kind blonde male with pale features and a bit of a pinkish blush highlighting his cheeks. He bent down and started to help her clean the spot smiling all the while.

"You're the new teacher." He said kindly, "I'm Quatre Raberba Winner, I teach History, Government and Economics. It's nice to meet you."

"Roddy Adelphia," Roddy said trying to offer a hand but realizing that it was covered with cold, sticky coffee and offered Quatre a smile instead.

"I suppose this is not the best of first days," he asked as they both finally finished cleaning up the mess and throwing away the sticky paper towels. Quatre reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a moistened towel to clean the gummy liquid from Roddy's hands.

"All first days are hectic," she smiled thankfully and threw the well-used towelette into the trashcan behind her. 

"Very true, it was only a year ago that I was in your position. What exactly are you looking for?"

"My room, 203."

"Sister Mary Francis's old room. Literature, what an exciting subject." Quatre said walking down the hallway the same direction as the other man had disappeared. Roddy quickly followed.

"Sister Mary Francis was a sweet lady, and her death was rather untimely. She will be sorely missed at OLIC." Quatre talked as he strolled calmly down the hallway, Roddy catching up with him and keeping in stride beside him.

"She must have been quite a woman." Roddy answered.

"Yes, she was rather kind. Here is your room." Quatre said smiling nicely and standing in front of room 203. Roddy looked around and noticed that the mystery man she'd run into earlier was teaching across the hallway. It was obvious that he taught Spanish by the various multicolored posters that were hanging outside on his bulletin board and by the colorful posters displayed in his room, one reading OLÈ in bright, bold orange block letters. Roddy was concentrating on the room so intensely that she didn't notice that the mystery man was sitting peacefully at his desk staring back. She didn't notice until he got from his desk and walked over to the door, closing it with a loud emphatic thump. Roddy jumped slightly at the force of the door's closing and her eyes widened in angered shock; this man has a lot of nerve.

"Don't mind him, that's just Mr. Barton, he doesn't talk very much." Quatre said from behind Roddy. She turned and smiled at him, thanked him for showing her to her classroom and unlocked the door. 

When she entered the room and turned on the light, she was amazed to note that the room was already decorated with brightly colored posters much like those in Barton's room. Barton, what a mystery, he was quiet, handsome, and a Spanish teacher; he was probably just shy. Roddy walked over to her large oak desk and sat her satchel down pulling out the essentials for her lesson. Actually the first day was always a blow off, a time for everyone to get to know everyone. Especially for her to be a new senior Literature teacher, they were probably used to the Sister's teaching style. She rummage through the small, tattered brown bag and pulled out her lesson plan, some various books including a volume of Shakespeare's greatest works, and some other things to bring out her personal flavor in the room. She also pulled out some chalk but turned to look at the board and noticed that it was a dry-erase board instead.

"I guess I'm a little old fashion," she said, staring down at the multi-colored case of Crayola™ chalk. She would just have to borrow some. But from who? She couldn't ask Barton, she'd already made a lasting impression on him as it was. She couldn't even think of finding Quatre's room, at least not until she figured out the numbering system, and she really didn't want to have to walk back downstairs for one dry-erase marker. She put the chalk case back onto the desk, swallowed her pride, and started towards her friendly across the hall neighbor.

She knocked quietly on the still closed door, hoping that he wasn't in the room, but hearing him inside. In the back of her mind she wished that he wouldn't answer so she wouldn't have to deal with his churlish attitude. She was about to turn away, realizing that she'd been standing there for some minutes and he'd still not answered, when she heard the creak of the wooden door open. He stood defiantly at the door like a strong, overprotective lion. He stared at her with equal disdain and annoyance, his face nothing but a stoic mask.

"I was wondering if I could borrow a dry-erase marker," Roddy said warily with a friendly smile on her face. He pushed the door open further and turned away. Roddy assumed that this meant she could enter his classroom, so she haphazardly followed him in. 

"You see I'm not used to teaching at schools that don't have chalk boards so I figured that this school would have chalk boards. You can imagine my surprise when I saw a dry-erase board instead and I was holding this large carton of multi-colored chalk. I guess that's a thing of the past in teaching technology, I can remember being a kid and thinking that it was a pain in the ass to use chalk boards because you had to take the erasers outside and pound them together and the dust would get everywhere. I remembered being the one that always got picked for that job and wishing that someone would come up with something better, now they have and I'm not even ready to move on. I guess I'm just used to the past…" As Roddy rambled on about chalkboards vs. dry-erase boards like it was her Master thesis, Trowa had walked to his desk, picked up a green marker and was at the moment staring at her with bemusement.

"Marker. Go." He said with a punctuated staccato, one so disturbed and guttural that Roddy got the point and stopped rambling. She kindly took the marker and backed her way towards the classroom exit.

"Thank you, I'll give it to you at the end of the day." She said as she exited the room.

"Keep it." he said quietly and closed the door behind her, leaving Roddy once again standing in the vast hallway alone.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: It gets a little crazy, but only a little. It's still a bit boring, but I had to do some establishing. Sorry if the characters seem a bit flat, but there will be some serious development soon. Promise.

Disclaimer: Damn the Man, I don't own Gundam Wing

Chapter 2

"But Sister Mary Francis never taught it this way," a freckled face, sixteen-year-old redheaded girl spoke from the back of the class. Roddy gritted her teeth; that had to be the third student that'd said something about the Sister's teaching style. 

"Well, I'm using a different method, Bethany." Roddy said through her gritted teeth. It was her third class of the day and already she had a momentous headache. She never thought she'd have such a difficult time adjusting to teaching British Literature. A sigh of relief racked her body as she heard the last bell ring, thank God for forty-five minute classes.

"Okay class, tomorrow we will discuss the first part of Beowulf. Be prepared there might be quiz." Roddy almost yelled at the students that were already packed up and half way out of the door. She stretched her hands high over her head and popped the stiff vertebrae in her back. 

"What a day, what a day," she said propping her door open and letting down her hair from its tight bun. She sauntered over to her chair and relaxed before she started working on her lesson plan for the next day. It had been a difficult first day. The students, though they seemed pleasant and eager to learn, were still under the influence of the Sister's teaching style. She figured that she'd win them over in time. She walked around the room, straightening the desks back into the pristine order that they were in before the students arrived. She picked up some of the trash that the students dropped and threw it in the trash; the whole process took about thirty minutes. 

She finally got back to her desk and started on her lesson plan, scratching out things that were too early for each of her five classes to start on. Her honors class would be starting on some of the more difficult themes in Beowulf during the next three classes and she hoped to be finished with the epic in the next two weeks. Of course, the honors class was accelerated which meant that Roddy expected more out of them, which meant they would have a quiz the next class period on what they'd read. She knew this wasn't a way to win over her new students with a pop quiz, but she was a teacher and they were here to learn not get along. The rest of her classes would be working on a group project on the different parts of Beowulf and she would notify them all on the next class session. 

The sound of the small chime of the clock on the wall behind her alerted her to the time. It was 6:30pm, she'd been there for three and half hours working diligently and from the looks out of her windows it was dark. She sighed and finished marking her places on the lesson plan so that she could turn it into the chair of her department. She quickly shuffled the rest of her things into the satchel and pulled out her keys so that she could lock the door. In addition to her keys, she also pulled out a grocery list, adding the last minute item of dry-erase markers to the list; she figured that since it was so late that she'd just give Mr. Barton his marker back tomorrow. 

To her surprise, when she was locking her door she noticed that Barton's room was opened and he was indeed sitting at his desk, working on something and listening to his portable CD player. Since he was here, she might as well give him back his marker now. She crossed the hallway cautiously, making sure that he would be able to see her shadowy figure in the darkness of the hall so as not to scare him; she'd already made enough of a bad impression on him earlier. She knocked on the door gently but he obviously couldn't hear her so she nervously entered the room. She walked to the front of his desk and gingerly called his name. He looked up quickly, his head jerking back in surprise. He removed the earphones from his ears and stared at her blankly; Roddy thought that she could vaguely hear Handel's Hallelujah chorus. 

"I brought back your pen," she said offering the pen as a way of peace between the two. He took the small writing utensil and sat it on the desk.

"I said that you could keep it," he stood from his desk and went to sit the marker on the board holder. She cutely held up the small fluorescent yellow sticky-note and smiled.

"It's on my to-do list. Thank you though." There was a strange silence as they both stared at one another; the only sound that was resonating through the quiet room was the muted Hallelujah chorus. Roddy smiled awkwardly and blinked slowly. 

"Well, I'm going to head on out, it's getting late," she looked at her watch and it read 7:00pm on the dot. She grabbed her satchel from his desk and started towards the door.

"I'll walk you out." He said to her back, she stopped, her hand carefully poised on the door. This strange man, silent as the grave, surly and rude, was actually offering something nice to her. She turned quickly and noticed that he'd already packed up and was ready to go. How had he done that so fast? Shaking her head in amazement, she led them both out the door, stopping shortly to wait for him to turn off the lights and lock the door. 

They walked down the hall, down the stairs, and out of the building in complete silence. It was dark, so pitch dark in the area that they could see the stars twinkle. It wasn't like this in her city apartment; there she couldn't even see the moonlight. She looked up and smiled in childlike amazement.

"The stars are so beautiful, almost makes you wonder," she said, trying to start a conversation.

"You can only look at those beautiful heavens and wonder in His glory. I know when I leave this place at night, I wish I were up there." Barton said quietly. So this man could talk, though silently, and somewhat profound, she'd gotten him to say more than three words in a sentence and that was an accomplishment.

"Do you work late a lot?"

"I used to before the Sister's passing."

"Were you two good friends?"

"You could say that." He continued to stare at the sky, his green eyes shaded by darkness and the glare of the moonlight off the lenses of his glasses. A crunch on the ground behind them made him stiffen instantly. They both turned to see what the sound was but saw nothing.  Yet, as if she were a part of that shadow, as if it engulfed her and swallowed her but regurgitated her when it wanted to, Jina appeared. Her figure and face were as clear as they were in the day, the pale moonlight shining off of her even paler skin. Barton was standing in front of Roddy, as if he were protecting her from some evil; Roddy felt flattered. Jina stepped forward and Trowa took a step backwards. Roddy could see that his eyes were narrowed.

"Roddy, how was your first day?" Jina asked, her voice a bit deeper and huskier than before. 

"It was alright, I guess." Roddy started to step forward, feeling somewhat silly for being at shouting distance and trying to carry on a conversation. Trowa, moving a lot faster than Roddy thought he could, stepped in front of her, blocking her every move from Jina as if the smaller woman was harmful. Roddy was sure that she could take her.

"Oh, Barton, hi." Jina said with disregard evident in her tone. Trowa only snarled. Roddy, noticing the tension tried to ignore it and offered Jina a kind smile.

"Heero, Duo and I are all going to a local bar to celebrate the first day. Wanna join?" Jina reached out a hand. Roddy was close to taking the temptation and leaving her silent self-made bodyguard behind, when she felt his gentle but firm hand on her shoulder. In a white flash, the sun disappeared behind a dark cloud of fiery dust. The world seemed to be covered in this thick blanket and people were suffocating and dying from the red filth that was quickly filling their lungs. Not her, not Roddy, she walked without impediment amidst the death and destruction.

"No, I had a harder first day than I think. I'm going to go get some sleep and rework my lesson plan. I'll try to get here early tomorrow. Thank you for offering though." Roddy tried to look normal, but after those mental images it was difficult.

"Suit yourself. I'll see you tomorrow. Have a nice night." Jina's eyes cut to Trowa's then back to Roddy's and she smirked evilly and walked away back into the strange shadows. Roddy tried to clear her head, shaking it slightly and turned towards her car. Trowa followed.

"Thank you for walking me to my car." She said as she put the key into the car door and unlocked it. Trowa was standing dangerously close to her almost to point of making her uncomfortable. She turned and smiled at him, thinking that he'd take the silent hint and turn to walk away; he only stood stationary and stared. His gaze was feral and questioning, almost searching. She felt uneasy, his eyes were asking questions that she couldn't begin to answer and yet she understood the questions. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat from the earlier images and she opened the door forcing Trowa to move away from her.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said stoically. She smiled, closed the door and drove away quickly.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: It gets crazy. Just wanted to warn you. This wasn't what I was expecting, so just go with it. This just popped out of my head and I think it works. If not, tell me.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. WAAAAAA!!!!!!! 

Chapter 3

_The dirt was red, the color of fire, roses, blood. It was stinging every part of her like a thousand knives, like a million needlepoints all over her body. The dirt splattered on her face, in her eyes, on her soft lips, blistering and bruising, slicing and cutting, but she had to keep going. The sun was setting, usually it would illuminate radiant oranges, bold purples, and soft pinks, but now it only shown a dull, stagnant blood red. Everything was the color of blood, tinted so by the sky. The sea, the water, the rain, the ground, the green grass was the color of blood; even her brown skin was tinted that color, but she had to keep moving the sun was setting. And then there was her belly; it was swollen wide with that of a child. Her stomach so full with a baby that it was about to burst open, she could feel bile rise in her throat and she swallowed the bitter taste back along with a mouthful of red dust. She felt her stomach cramp, the pain so intense so breaking that she fell to the ground grabbing her belly. The dampness between her legs signaled what she feared; she would not make her goal this night, the sun was setting and she'd not yet made it to the temple. She had to keep going. She forced herself to stand, her knees knocking, trembling, thick liquid dripping wetly down her legs, pain wracking her whole body, the sand still whipping in her face. She fell again, another contraction wracking her body. She looked up from her back at the blood red sky and screamed to the heavens for someone to help her, to save her, to deliver her child. No one answered she was alone. Her body had no choice, it was ripping itself apart, blood now joining that previously clear liquid running and mingling with the dirt, making the ground beneath her muddy. She stood again, her eyes blurring, her body still trembling, blood flowing from her nether regions and stalked slowly towards the stairs of the temple; it was all she knew, she couldn't fail or the world would suffer._

Roddy walked into the school the next morning, the outside sky and hallways just as dark as when she'd left the night before. She had always been an early riser, a morning person, someone that loved getting worked done early. Luckily for her, every teacher at OLIC was given a key to the front door so that they could get in and do what they needed to do. 

Upon entering the doors, she realized that maybe that wasn't such a good idea. The school, though she knew that it was much safer than her previous teaching assignment, held an ominous tension around it. The strange feelings carried beyond the pristine hallways and classrooms, the kind people, the Catholic relics hanging everywhere; there was just something about the school that just didn't fit together right. Roddy walked down the shadowy hallways, the sounds of her pumps echoing on the honey-colored linoleum throughout the hallway. She worked her way up the stairs and followed the path that she had the day before to get to her room; she didn't want to get lost in the dark, the place was spooky as it was. She felt a bit silly for thinking that the place was haunted; it was just her overactive gothic imagination that was playing tricks on her. She'd had a strange dream the other night and figured that it was probably influencing her thoughts as well. Laughing inwardly at herself she walked down the hallway at a more comfortable pace than that of the nervous one she'd been using previously.

She finally reached her room, and though she'd laughed off her ghost paranoia, she still felt as if the school was a bit eerie, especially her room. Maybe it was because the previous teacher that used the room had recently passed and her spirit lived someone in its crevices. Roddy stuck the key into the door and opened the squeaking wood quickly. 

Blood, that's all she saw, blood and a small, older woman hanging from the rafters of the room. The woman was pale, blood seeping from the wounds that were made all over her body. Her mouth was moving; maybe crying for breaths that she knew wouldn't come. There was no look of panic on her face as her head rolled about her neck and she suffocated, the air slowly leaving her pushed out lungs and her eyes landing stagnantly on Roddy's. With quick reaction, Roddy stepped away from the door, backing away her hands to her mouth in utter shock. She stepped back quickly, her eyes never leaving the scene in her room; she stepped back, right into another body. A yell so shrill and toe-curling left her lips that she put Jamie Lee Curtis to shame.

"It's alright. I'm sorry to have frightened you," it was Heero Yuy. Why was he on the second floor? Roddy blinked her eyes at the blue-eyed man in shock and gripped her chest to stop the heaving.

"I'm sorry, the school is just a bit frightening in the dark." She smiled.

"It's strange coming to a new place, I know." He said kindly, letting go of her and helping her stand on her shaky knees. 

"What are you doing here so early?" she asked, a smiled plastered on her face. 

"I like to get here early, work on my plans for the day," Heero said, a smirk aligning his face. A bit confused but certainly relieved, she turned and faced her room with apprehension. There was nothing. The blood that was splattered across the walls was gone, the woman that was hanging from the board vanished. The room was exactly the way she'd left it the night before, desk straightened, walls lily-white, and definitely no dead corpse hanging from the board. She shook her hand and walked into the room not noticing that Heero had followed behind her. She quickly turned on the room lights and sat her things on the desk, trying to set up for the day.

"Why do you get here early?" his voice was soft, almost seductive and she turned from her desk with a start. He was standing close behind her, not so close where he'd frighten her, but close enough that she could feel his presence pressing upon her. She backed up instinctively into the desk and stared for a bit. He was handsome; not her type with his intense blue eyes and tight pink lips, but his beauty was not lost on her. It was his aura; he emanated an ominous presence that both frightened and aroused her innermost being. She was drawn to him, like she was to Jina, Trowa, and the school. There was an element of mystery, danger, and sensuality that she only read about in gothic novels.

"I'm a morning person, the earlier I rise and get ready the better. I get excited teaching." She wanted to ramble on, but something in his countenance told her to hold her tongue. His eyes were focusing on her intensely; the way Trowa's had the other night. Ice blue orbs seemed to blaze like sapphires in the shadowy hallway. Roddy arched her neck back, intrigued and also frightened by this man's gaze on her. She stared back at him, her confidence waning a bit and her knees giving out on her; it was as if Heero had some kind of magical power. She swooned; her knees finally giving up and he caught her quickly, his hands going around her waist and her hands gripping his strong chest.

"Are you alright?" he asked delightfully as he helped her stand for the second time that morning.

" I'm sorry, I've just been a bit woozy lately."

"You better sit down," he said, helping her to her desk chair. She smiled gratefully at him and rested her arm slightly on her desk. There was a short pause as they stared at each other transfixed.

"I think I'll be fine. I need to get started on school stuff." She said, shuffling her papers that she'd previously sat on the desk. He looked at her with caution and shrugged and started for the door.

"If you have anymore problems, don't hesitate to ask for some assistance. I hope you have a good second day, Ms. Adelphia." He said almost in a whisper as he walked from the room. Roddy stared after him in a daze and shrugged; everyone here was rather strange it seemed.

****

She stayed late once again, this time till seven that night. It seemed as if the students were starting to respond a bit better. She was going over the quizzes that her honors class had taken and they were all in the A-B range, which was good. The class discussion that day started out slowly but Bethany, the obvious loud-mouth of the group, started a rather interesting conversation about the differing in the honor system of Beowulf and today's theories on honor and glory. The class was off to a good start, which made Roddy smile inwardly as she graded the quizzes.

She paused for a second, staring at the clock and realizing that she'd not finished yet. She sighed and stretched her arms high over her head; first she'd go the bathroom then she'd come back and pack. She stood from the desk and exited the room walking the direction towards the bathroom. The hallway held its usual darkness, but after this morning's cowardly display in front of Heero she'd grown sensitized to the general spookiness. She stomped down the darkened hallway haphazardly, not even caring to look over into Trowa's room and see if he was there; she knew he was, his light was on.  She stumbled towards the door that had the crack of light coming from the bottom seam and opened it, instantly illuminating her face and a large rectangular patch of light on the honey wall behind her. 

Blinking rapidly because of the contrast of light and dark and allowing her eyes the time to adjust, she stumbled even more into the squeaky clean bathroom. The bathroom wall was cut in half horizontally by two types of tiling. The top half being that of a regular, puce-hued sheetrock and drywall and the bottom half being shiny, multi-colored four inch square tiles. The floors were the customary puce terrazzo, though it was speckled with bits of brown and dark blue. 

Walking over to the white, porcelain sink that jutted out of the wall, she gingerly turned on the hot water, tested it, and then just as gingerly turned on the cold water. She looked at herself in the spot-free window and grimaced. Her hair was awry with the smaller hair from her semi-grown out bangs sticking out at the top, her bun had stray hairs popping out on all sides, and the bit of bangs that she did have was sticking almost straight up. Licking her fingers, she ran them carefully through her hair in the makeshift trial of slicking her hair back. Of course, it failed. Resigning to failure and wondering if she'd looked like a fairytale monster all day, she cupped her hands under the faucet collecting the lukewarm, clear water like a puddle in her hands and lowered her face, splashing away some of the day. She did this a few times, lowering her head and splashing the water until she felt a bit refreshed. Lifting her head back up to window-viewing length, she reached blindly for the paper-towel dispenser, retrieving a coarse, paper bag brown, paper towel to wipe her face. She did so quickly, adding extra attention to her eyes and slowly opened her amber orbs.

At first it didn't register, as her vision cleared from the blurred mess of pupil dilation to that of a brightly lit bathroom, but the blurriness cleared leaving her to realize that her reflection was not alone and there was indeed someone standing behind her. She jumped back at the sight; the vision was the woman from her room. The woman was bloodied from head to toe, her eyes bugged out from asphyxiation, Roddy suspected. She mouthed something once again that Roddy could neither read nor hear. In moments of fear, Roddy considered herself a person of flight; in this case, her body couldn't move. Her feet stood steadfast in that spot, her knees trembled as if she were about to fall apart, and her palms started to sweat; not even a scream escaped her lips. She just stood there, paralyzed from fear and stared at the ghoul as it reenacted what had occurred earlier. Finding strength, Roddy turned from the mirror, still holding her hand to her mouth. The bathroom was covered in walls of thick, flowing blood. She felt her breaths quicken and her heart start to race. 

Finding courage and speed she'd never had, Roddy ran from the bloody restroom out into the darkened, solitary hallway. The general stillness of the hallway was broken by the staccato thump of her pumps and her heavy breathing as she fled in terror. Her eyes reverted behind her from time to time, trying to catch a glimpse of the ghoul she'd seen for the second time that day. All the while, her mind was reeling, her soul was yelling; it wasn't a dream, or some silly vision or shadow playing humorous tricks on her mind, it was an unhappy phantasm that wanted to haunt her, scare her away. She couldn't stop running, lest the ghost catch her. Turning around and finally looking forward, Roddy ran directly into the ghostly figure and fell backwards onto her butt. She recognized the spot from the day before; it was the direct spot that she'd met Trowa in their unsightly tumble.

Roddy looked at the woman in wide-eyed shock as the scene from earlier played out in front of her. She could do nothing but watch in wonderment. The woman didn't want to hurt her; she wanted to tell her something. 

The scene was the familiar classroom, though set up differently. There sat the woman, the ghoul and she was unscathed, her face homely and caring. She stood from her desk chair, seeing someone at the door, obviously a kind, familiar face. She was dressed in all black, even down to the shoes. The large black top and modest black skirt customary of nuns. There was no habit, for this particular order it wasn't required. Just as quickly as the smile arrived on the woman's face, the mood changed, things became jarred in the vision. The apparition was blurred, blood splattered, almost gray. There were flashes of white lights and black shadows reeling in the background, but mostly the perpetrator was blurred. Then the familiar scene began to play, the nun hanging from the room's board, her bloodied form reeling from asphyxiation and the struggle for her last words. 

Roddy sat in a darkened hallway, staring blankly at the apparition, shaking profusely, crippled from horror. She didn't hear a sound, not even a squeak as a soft hand crept up and tapped her on the shoulder. She only screamed and swooned into the waiting arms, darkness fading into more utter darkness as she succumbed to her faint.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note_: _Kat, this is for you_._

Disclaimer: If I owned Gundam Wing, they'd always be naked.

_Chapter 4_

_Out of the heavens appeared a great, red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven golden crowns. He salivated and smirked, his hands and body covered with blood red scales. His body seemed to meld greatly with the rest of the red world. She was still stumbling to the temple, holding her belly in utter agony. Pain shot from her brain to her abdomen in lightning flashes, pulsing and radiating through her in searing, knife-like quickness. She fell again, crying out against the pain, gripping her belly, and feeling the child push its way from her body._

_Sneering and snorting it heard her; in the far off distance it heard her cries of pain and agony and it smiled. It was her child the dragon wanted, the innocence that was pushing itself from her body. She could feel the blood and other fluids flow down her legs, leaving a trail behind her. The dragon sniffed the air with its seven nostrils and smirked with its seven mouths; it could smell her, almost taste her in the air, the baby was what the dragon wanted. Craning its necks, the dragon lifted its large legs and started stomping towards her scent, its mouth watering and only the newborn on its mind._

She felt warm, like a baby in the womb, like she was covered in a million blankets. Her head lolled from side to side, her body trying to shake herself awake from its dream. Her senses slowly returned to her body, sights and sounds swimming and mingling. First the sounds of muted inaudible distant whispers filled her ears, her auditory senses picked up the electronic rumble of a television- the news, it had to be. Her eyes blinked open, a distinct haze reeling behind her eyes and slowly coming into focus on a musty yellow ceiling. It wasn't her apartment, rather some place she'd never seen before and didn't know how she'd gotten there. She sat up quickly, realizing that she'd been resting on a plush green plaid sofa, a small wool blanket pulled over her body; that explained the warmth. Though she wasn't in her apartment, she didn't feel worried or uneasy; this place held no fear for her. In this place she felt the safe warmness that one feel when they're in the place of their birth or in the cradle of a church. 

Looking around some more she stood from the sofa and went to gather her things from the places where they were haphazardly scattered. First her satchel that laid on the chair closest to the television, then her sweater that was sliding slightly off the small coffee table. She bent low, cracking her back, and picked up the sweater. Slowly she stood, smirking in pleasure from the tension release in her back and turned. In the still light stood a silhouetted figure. Roddy paused, not being able to see the person's face, not knowing if she wanted to.

"I see you're awake," an unfamiliar voice said as he stepped forward from the doorway. This man was a teacher at OLIC, he taught Philosophy on the first floor and she hadn't gotten to meet him. He was obviously of Chinese descent, had a rather lengthy ponytail that he fastened at the nape of his neck, and a rather angled face. Roddy only stared, hoping that the man wouldn't hurt her. He was carrying a tray that held a small teapot and two cups; he gingerly set them down on the coffee table. He then sat tranquilly on the previously occupied plaid sofa and started to poor some tea.

"Would you like one lump or two?" he asked, looking up at her with eyes so black that Roddy struggled to see the pupil.

"Why am I here?" she asked, backing away from him.

"Do you want the truthful answer to that?" he asked, adding one lump into her tea and setting it down onto the coffee table in front of him. Disdain shown on her face evident through her blazing amber eyes. She wanted to run over to that table and throw that teacup in his face and scald him, but she only nodded in agreement instead. He patted the cushion next to him and she slowly walked over and sat down.

"Now that you've calmed…" 

"I haven't calmed, I just want to know why strange things are happening to me."

"Like the apparition that appeared to you tonight?" he said, smirking at her.

"How did you know?"

"Did you see an apparition?"

"Why do you care?"

"You did." He said with finality. She slammed her tea down on the table with outrage; he was toying with her.

"Why are you doing this? Just answer my questions and I'll leave happily."

"There is a storm raging out there. It is a soundless tempest that swirls happily in a teapot, waiting for someone to unleash it," he stood from the sofa and walked over to his large oak bookshelf and ran his slight fingers over the dusty, hardback books in search of a particular one.

"What are you talking about?"

"You are the catalyst for that storm. Unassuming, innocent, cherished catalyst."

"You're crazy," she said, standing from the sofa almost knocking her teacup from the table, grabbing her satchel and her sweater and starting towards the door.

"You have dreams, no nightmares!" he yelled and she paused in mid-step. She wouldn't face him. She heard the shuffle of his feet behind her and his confident steps on the hardwood floor. She turned quickly and he handed her a large book with an even larger smirk on his face.

"Take this, read it, understand it, and you will understand yourself." He cordially stepped in front of her and opened the door. She snatched the book from him and quickly scurried from the apartment, not looking back at all.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: Kat, I hope you enjoyed a bit of Wufei. I promise that he's more involved in this as the plot goes along. I apologize for the short chapter last time, but this should make up for it. This kind of helps some of the plot unfold, but only a bit; it's about to get crazier boys and girls.

Disclaimer: If I owned Gundam Wing, they'd all be toast.

She was so distracted in her teaching and the students could tell, not wanting to pay attention themselves. She elected that the day be a free day to talk about any piece of British literature that the students wanted, they chose to discuss the latest episodes of the Real World while Roddy sat at her desk idly eyeing the book that the strange man had given her the night before. She slid her fingers slightly over the leather cover and down the worn spine. The book was so old and dusty that the cover words had been rubbed off. The only way to find the identity of the book was to open it and she wasn't ready to do that.

The man seemed strange, yet she felt safe in his presence like she knew he wasn't going to hurt her. His eyes, though they were dark and almost lifeless, held a dangerous innocence much like that of Mr. Barton's. And the strange man knew about her apparition, who incidentally hadn't appeared in almost a week since her encounter with the man. The man also knew about her dreams, which had miraculously gone away after getting the book. But the book frightened her for some reason unknown.

The shrill sound of the last bell sounded and she excused her class. She quickly straightened the desks and packed up so that she could leave the building before every other teacher cleared out. She'd noticed that most of the teachers didn't stay at the school that late at night, and even more of them didn't arrive until about the same time as the students. It was as if someone wasn't telling her something. Most schools had after school programs, OLIC didn't. Most schools had club meetings and sport team practices, OLIC didn't. The students rarely did anything wrong and the teachers; well the teachers were a different story. They were undoubtedly cliquish; Jina, Heero, and Duo all surrounded one another, shunning Quatre and Trowa to be with each other. Not only did they shun one another, they down right hated each other, treating each other unkindly as if they were high school students. Strangely enough, though she was kind to both groups equally, both accepted her and both treated her with equal benevolence. She quickly packed her bag and grabbed her keys to lock the door behind her, turning off the lights and stepping into the hallway, she saw the strange man that she'd met a week earlier coming down the hallway. She quickly ducked back into her room and watched through the small peephole what he was doing.

He walked towards Mr. Barton's room and knocked on the door. Trowa peaked his head out and smirked, letting the Chinese man in. Roddy could slightly see that there was third party in the room as Trowa closed the door behind them both. Sighing with relief, she opened her door quietly and locked it behind her, starting down the hallway. Her mind reeled with skepticism as to what the three people could be up to. Was there some strange joke being played on her? Were the teachers just being rude? What about the apparition? It was curiosity that killed the cat and it also caused Roddy to turn and sneak up to Trowa's door and lean her head silently against it. 

Wondrous sounds filled her ears that of innocent rejoicing, melodic speech, and valiant music resonated all over the room and vibrated through the thick, wooden door. The sound calmed her, made her feel wistful and almost airy. She smiled contentedly and leaned her head closer against the door. The smooth whispers continued and she realized that they were speaking in a language that wasn't English, yet she understood it. They were talking in riddles almost like the strange man was talking those nights before.

Suddenly, a wave of panic washed over her, fear struck her like an arrow to a bull's-eye. She started to shake all over like she had in front of the apparition and a deep chill sent shivers all over her body. She stood, grabbed her things and started quickly down the hallway, trying to feel safe like she had before. Reaching the first floor and feeling a bit better after her flight, she, instead of heading for her car and driving away from the school, decided to go to the church that was connected to the school.

She'd only been in the Church of the Immaculate Conception once and the beauty of the place had struck her so deeply that she felt almost compelled to fall in reverence to its splendor. Even in her second visit, the magnificence of the church wasn't lost on her. When one walked into the church they were greeted with the slightest hint of pale, pink marble. Everywhere she stepped, the pink marble followed her, under her feet, on the walls, the stout pillars that were scattered throughout. Splashes of bold reds and muted gold plate were the other colors that accompanied the marble, but they were not as splendid as the soft, warm hue of the marble.

She walked slowly down the middle of the church; staring at the white, marble statues of the Virgin Mary. Her stone eyes looked confused, unsure, frightened as she stared down at the small Baby Jesus in her hands. The Virgin looked as if she felt exploited and manipulated and betrayed and all she got was this crying child and a Halo. Roddy had never noticed how miserable and cheerless Mary looked holding that amazing child. In her memories, the Virgin had always been a smiling, happy woman, willing to serve her Lord, when in reality, her visage was as cold and lifeless as the marble she'd been carved from.

"Serving the Lord is not always ideal," a strong baritone sounded from behind her. She turned sharply to see the jovial face of Father Maxwell. She blushed slightly from embarrassment.

"I'd never noticed how miserable she looks." Roddy replied, her eyes not tearing away from the statue.

"What brings you here this evening?" he asked, walking closer. She turned to look at him a smirk aligning her features.

"Divine counsel, I suppose."

"You've come to the right place. Is Confession what you seek?"

"I just needed to reaffirm myself."

"Then by all means, sit and stare at Her if she brings you peace." He waved his hand out in front of him towards a seat and she kindly took the pew to herself. He walked away, leaving her to stare at the Blessed Virgin. She felt like she had to read the book now. She pulled the large volume from her satchel and sighed. She fingered the front of it, running her digits sensually over the leather, feeling the coolness of the hide under her fingertips. Boldly she opened the volume and her head slightly jerked backwards as the title stared back at her from crumpled, yellow pages- **The Bible**. She gulped. The bold, black letters both confused and intrigued her. The strange man had given her the Bible as an explanation; what could this holy book possibly tell her that she didn't already know. She flipped through the pages carefully, biting back memories of Catholic school skirts and memorizing canon and verse. She continued to flip, until she reached the last book, Revelation. It was, to her, the most frightening book of them all, Apocrypha, her religion teacher had called it and she always refused to read it. She shook as she started on the first page.

Time passed and before she knew it, she had read to the 12th Chapter and it was entitled the Serpent and Woman. She started to read, the words flowing in her head like a river. Every word on that page reflected her dream, the dragon, the pregnancy; she was the woman. She slammed the book shut and it fell to the floor, shattering the general stillness of the church with a gaudy thud on the hard wood. She could do nothing but stare at the volume, tears welling in her eyes. She looked back up at the Blessed Virgin, only her face replaced that of the still stone. She couldn't take this anymore; Roddy jumped from the pew and ran for the exit of the church only to be caught by Heero and Father Maxwell, blocking both the exits.

They looked at her with predatory gleams in their eyes. The usual gentle eyes of both men were clouded by something even more sinister and ominous. She backed away slowly, realizing that they were blocking her in. She watched as both men bolted the doors and advanced on her. They're faces were even different, cloudy, devilish, extremely evil. Father Maxwell's usually happy face was turned into a grimace of delight, his violet eyes glowing a strange color of burgundy. Heero advanced upon her and she back away, bumping her knees against a pew and crashing to her butt on the wooden bench. She stood, quickly gaining her bearings and backed into the narrow slit of the pew, Heero and Duo forming a small line and walking creepily towards her.

"Is this some type of joke?" she asked, shakily finding her voice. There was no way to hide her panic; her voice held such a tremulous hum to it, that one could tell the emotions.

"Not at all," a voice from behind her sounded and she instantly felt the pain as razor sharp nails dug into her shoulders. The hands gripped her so forcefully that she couldn't move; she watched as trickles of blood started to stain her violet blouse.

"I think it's time that you sat," Jina said, pushing Roddy down hard onto the pew. Roddy fell to the bench, the thwack notifying her that this wasn't a dream.

Even Jina looked different, her nails bloodied, her eyes a reverberating gold, her incisors elongated, her hair laying about her shoulders. She looked frightening, like a beautiful demon. Roddy looked around to the men and watched as they guarded her left and behind her. Jina sat down next to her on her right, freeing her grip from her shoulder, but her chilling gaze steadfast.

"You don't understand, do you?" Jina asked, an evil smirk appearing on her face.

"Jina, what is this all about?"

"This is more than your puny, mortal mind will be able to comprehend." There was something in that sentence that struck Roddy as strange. It wasn't Jina's tone of voice, which had turned from a cheerful, glassy soprano to that of a frightening tenor. It wasn't the way she'd rasped the voice almost seductively into Roddy's ear. No, it was the simple word "mortal," that caught Roddy's attention.

"Mortal?" Roddy mouthed silently to herself, her eyes turning to that of the Blessed Virgin's statue and to her previous seat at the front of the church. Her things were still there; the book the Chinese man had given her was still there. Jina, smiling widely, stood from her place at the pew and closed her eyes.

"This is your destiny, to be a sacrifice for our lord. You will bring about our reign." Roddy looked at her with wide eyes and listened to her words. Jina had taken her guard down and it was time to take advantage. Gathering all of her strength and focusing all of her weight on her legs, Roddy, in one fluid motion, thrust herself over the high pew in front of her and then out of the pew towards her things. Roddy ran down the middle aisle, all three people after her quickly.  Grabbing her things and clutching them tightly to her chest, she backed up towards the statue of the Blessed Virgin and started to recite her Hail Mary.

"She won't save you," Duo said as he inched closer to her, Heero trailing him. Jina eyed Roddy with danger in her orbs, then her eyes shot to the book that was clutched tightly to her chest. Jina growled low.

"Who gave you that book?" Jina asked, speeding up her gait towards Roddy, who in turned backed completely into the base of the statue.

"What does it matter? You can get one anywhere."

"You don't understand the magnitude of what you hold!" Jina yelled, her pace getting faster still.

"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with me…" Roddy began her prayer again and clutched the Bible even closer to her body. Jina was getting closer and by the time the pale woman was only three feet away, Roddy was screaming her prayer and clutching the Bible with sweaty, nervous hands.

"It's as simple as this, Roddy. You can choose to be with us or you can die," Jina, Heero and Duo all three jumped towards her but were stopped by the falling of rubble from the top of the church. Large pieces of pink marble fell everywhere. The scene looked like rain as caulk, pink marble and the small flakes of gold fell destroyed from the ceiling of the church. 

Jina watched in anger as a large creature, scathed in a blinding, white light fell from the ceiling and fell behind Roddy. Jina growled low and bared her fangs at the creature. Roddy stared in awe, her mind not being able to comprehend what had just happened. This creature was beautiful and frightening, white hair, burning red eyes, fluffy white wings, and two sets of arms. The eyes looked all too familiar to Roddy, but her human senses took over and she began to scream.

"She's not your whore," it spoke in a low, commanding voice as it grabbed Roddy with it's lower pair of arms and flew back towards the hole in the ceiling it had made earlier.

Higher and higher Roddy saw her feet fly from the ground; she clutched this being with all of her might, hoping that it wouldn't drop her, afraid that it would hurt her. She could do nothing but hold on and trust this strange being to save her. The night was dark, but it seemed to be illuminated by the beings beauty, by it's natural essence. Roddy closed her eyes as she felt them descend and when she reopened her eyes, her feet were planted safely on the ground. She let go of the creature quickly, her eyes still tightly shut.

"You are safe here with me," it said, the voice no heavier than a whisper but so commanding and so beautiful. She opened her eyes and stared at the creature, her mind taking more minutes to register before she let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"What? Who? How?!!!!" she yelled gibberish at the creature, moving to stand almost five feet away. The creature advanced slowly, trying to calm her but she only backed away.

"Please, Roddy, calm yourself, it's only me," the figure slowly started to change, red eyes softened into soft pools of emerald green, white hair darkened to that of familiar auburn, and two extra arms and a pair of wings disappeared into thin air leaving only the familiar features of Mr. Barton. Roddy was at a loss for words, her screaming stopping only long enough for her to witness this morph. She was silent as she walked towards the man, her eyes wide, and her mouth slack, amazed.

"Y-you're Tro…" the words didn't even finish as she lost all consciousness. He quickly caught her and grabbed her to him, trying to revive her.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: This gets a bit religious. I have rearranged some of the Canon Creation story, so please don't be upset. This is supposed to be a supernatural/religious allegory.

Disclaimer: If I owned Gundam Wing, they'd all be angels!!!

Chapter 6

Once again she felt the warmth she'd felt a week earlier and she heard the sounds of the muffled television as her ears slowly started to clear. She opened her blurry eyes and stared at the familiar ceiling; she was back at that strange man's apartment again. She sat up quickly, jumping from the sofa and looking for her things, only to find that she was dressed in overly large gray sweat pants and a New York Yankees T-shirt. She also awoke to realize that she wasn't alone in the room, there was an illuminated presence sitting on the green plaid sofa watching her.

"Good, you're awake," Quatre said with an innocent blush appearing on his face.

"Oh my God," Quatre grimace inwardly at Roddy's choice of words, "why am I here? What's going on? And why is this happening to me and only me?!!!!" she started. Quatre only stared at her, holding out a hand to her shoulder to calm her but she continued to rant like a child.

"You need to calm down now, Roddy,"

"I am calm!!! I'm as calm as someone can be when they're getting attacked by their co-workers for a copy of the Bible. Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? You can get Bibles from anywhere, even cheap, seedy motel rooms. Not to mention that some strange-ass, four-armed, winged freak dropped out of the ceiling of a marble church. Now I'm back at this weirdo's place and you're telling me to be calm, I should kick you in the head…" she continued like this for some minutes until Quatre raised his forefinger up stilly in the air and slowly held it to his supple, pink lips. The sound of Roddy's voice was instantly gone, leaving her only to talk and say things, but the sound not come out; she continued to talk regardless. Quatre cocked an eyebrow and stared at her, futilely trying to read her lips.

"You muted her?" Wufei said from the kitchen entrance holding a tray of tea. Quatre turned to him and smirked.

"You shouldn't do that, Danyael, she can still hear herself talk, though nothing is coming out." Quatre's head shot back at the use of his real name and he smirked once again at his friend.

"But she's talking so much," he answered and Wufei only gave him a stern eye. Quatre quickly undid the muting and Roddy's chatter broke the general stillness of the apartment.

"…you act as if I don't exist. I'm not going crazy; this is just a dream, I can wake up anytime. All of this is just one long nightmare, OLIC, the dead people coming to me, everything is just a long dream and all I have to do is wake up…" she continued to ramble on and on about how she was dreaming. Wufei, being fed up with her chatter, once again muted her. Quatre stared at his friend with hidden amusement.

"I can see why you muted her now." He said pouring Quatre some tea.

"You need to help me calm her, Ralayael, or she'll continue like this forever,"

"You're the Cherubim, Danyael, you play the harp He sent you down here for comfort. I'm not good with comfort, I'm good with logic." He sipped his tea cordially and watched as the muted Roddy moved her lips.

"Oh that is right, the Seraphim aren't good for anything else but being strategist," Quatre said with venom in his voice. Wufei's eyes narrowed at the insult and he growled low, until Trowa walked into the room. All eyes averted to him including the muted Roddy whose actions were quickly turned into that of a frightened mime show. Her mouth screamed but nothing came out and she waved and flailed her hands around and about her head with rapid speed, pointing and screaming at Trowa.

"Un-mute her," Trowa said in a low rumble as he walked over towards Roddy. She backed away and fell right onto the soft cushions of the green plaid couch. He softly touched her forehead with his forefinger whispering the words "calm," as he did. Roddy was instantly subdued.

"I want you to listen to me, do you understand?" Trowa asked and she nodded her head.

"We are not going to hurt you, we're here to protect you and serve you," he said calmly, his eyes stoic and almost melancholy. Roddy suddenly felt that gentle safeness that she'd felt earlier leaning against his door. Her hand went to his face, tracing the smooth contours of the tanned skin.

"But you're not who you are," she said slowly, her hands running up the sides of his cheek to his now auburn hair.

"We have some explaining to do, but it can only be done if you're calm."

"I just want to know what's happening to me," she said a tremble in her voice. Wufei poured her some tea offering the warm cup to her.

"It would only be fitting to start from the beginning," Quatre said, smiling widely at Roddy, calming her a bit. She nodded, turning her attention to Quatre then to Wufei as he spoke.

"In the Beginning, God created the Heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness _was_ upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters…"

"I know this story," she interrupted callously, a scowl on her face. Quatre put a strong hand on her shoulder and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"Like every good history, there are always some parts that are left out." She looked into his aquamarine blue eyes and was lost in those depths for only a minute. She nodded her head in acceptance and turned her attention back to Wufei.

"But the earth wasn't void, there lived creatures in the darkness; creatures that the Lord had created and forgotten. The demons, they were formless, aimless, without shape and cowered only in the abyss of deep, dark shadows. Now God, having created his angels, the Cherubim, the Seraphim, and the Arc Angel saw that they were good. Yet, there was an inner turmoil among the angels, there was a mutiny about to happen. There was one angel, his name never to be spoken by any other heavenly being again, he was to only be known as the one that was cast out. God punished him and his followers and put them in the depths of hell, taking all of the damned souls…"

"Lucifer," Roddy said silently, causing all three men to cringe at the sound of the name.

"Now the world was formed, and humans made to sin and given free will to choose their paths. They looked for a Savior, a Messiah, God's only son. And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name _was_ Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, _thou that art_ highly favored, the Lord _is_ with thee: blessed _art_ thou among women. And when she saw _him,_ she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name…"

"Jesus," Roddy was trembling, Quatre's strong, comforting grip not able to subdue her. She jumped from the green plaid sofa and ran towards the apartment door. Trowa blocked her in, stepping calmly in front of the door. She tried to push him, tried to punch him, but he was stationary.

"What are you telling me?" she asked, already knowing but not wanting to hear the words. She didn't even look at him, her eyes lowered. He placed two strong hands on her shoulder, begging her to look at him with every gesture.

"I am the angel Gabriel, Fear not Roddy, for you have found favor with God. You shall conceive a child and he shall be the Savior." There was a small pause and she looked back at him with defiant eyes.

"What if I don't want it?" 

"You have free will, to choose, to make your own decisions. But deep inside of you, you've always known that you were different." Trowa tried to calm her; there was a small pause as she thought.

"I don't want this!" she said as she wretched her body away from Trowa's, shoving him out of the way of the door and jolting right through the door.

"Roddy, wait!" Trowa went running after her quick form. Quatre started to give chase, but Wufei only held his shoulder.

"He must convince her, if he can't then none of us can."

****

It was unbelievably dark a she exited the building. She wrapped her jacket tightly around her shoulders, a cold shiver taking over her body. She'd presently evaded Trowa and was on her way back towards the main street to find a pay phone so that she could catch a cab. Her mind was reeling with feelings that only one other woman could understand. They were asking her to raise a child that would become the new Messiah, but she didn't want that. She didn't want to have to give up years of her life to keep the child safe, she wanted the child to have a father not just some angel that came down and impregnated her. She wanted for her child what every mother wanted, a safe environment. It wasn't that she wasn't strong enough or smart enough or courageous enough to raise a child by herself, she just didn't want that responsibility. And the question still remained, why her?

"She asked the same question," He'd found her, or had he been watching her all along. She turned and looked not seeing him but hearing his shuffling.

"What question?" she said lowly, lowering her head in thought. A soft thud behind her cause her to turn and see that he was standing behind her, his wings full and white.

"Why her? I couldn't explain it to her either."

"This isn't a dream and I'm not going crazy."

"No." Trowa stretched, his wings spanning over his shoulders massively. A tear dropped from her eye.

"Why me? I'm an unimportant high school British Literature teacher. Even when I was in Catholic school my grades were only mediocre," Trowa smirked at her, a bit amused by her reasoning.

"He doesn't care about the physical, your heart and your actions have won favor with Him. He never makes mistakes, never falters, and with choosing you for this task, he knows that you will succeed."

"But it's me, by myself, raising a child. At least Mary had a husband. I don't have any money, I don't have a job, I don't have anything," Roddy said, tears streaming down her face.

"He will provide that, never you worry. It's a leap of faith, like the Lion that never worries for its food. You have to have faith, Roddy, in yourself, and in Him," Trowa seemed so kind than from the first day she'd met him. In this state of Divine love, he looked kind almost like he treasure everything.

"He never gives us something that we can't handle." She said mostly to herself. He smiled fully and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her to his warm, comforting form.

"Let me take you back, grab onto me." She did as she was told and he lifted them both from the ground and higher to the heavens. Over the dark apartment buildings and the bustling city streets.

****

Even in the light the darkness seemed to consume her. She was crouched in her kitchen, drumming her fingers against the wooden dining table. Her mind reeled with possibilities and promises; the only things that kept her from going crazy in the human body. Though she was a servant to the dark side she lived in the lap of luxury. Her home was furnished with the most plush of rugs, lying upon unbelievably polished wooden floors. The blood-colored walls gave a blushing sheen to her skin. By her sour expression, no one would have known that the demon Evel was entertaining guests or that she was even a demon. She'd gone wonderfully disguised as the high school biology teacher Jina for so long that it seemed as if that was all she knew. Her guests, were as melancholy as she was, stern lips and eyes narrowed. The demon Dagon, though usually dressed in black priest robes and called Father Maxwell, had divested of his clothing and his clever moniker in order to feel more secure with himself. The other guest, the demon Armen sat just as still as his counterparts, maybe even more so, his human form's steely blue eyes and stark Asian features seemed more disheartened than the rest of them. There had been nothing but stark, religious quietness in the room ever since they'd come back from the church. The only sound for the past five hours had been the ticking of the wall clock, punctuated by the light drumming of Evel's sharp, black nails against the cherry wood table.

"I can't believe you let Gabriel get her!!!!" she yelled, breaking the general silence that had punctuated the den. Both of her counterparts stared at her with completely blankness. She'd also let Gabriel get away with her and they were not going to take the blame completely for incompetence.

"I've been in this body for more than five decades now, looking for the perfect woman and _they_ get her," she continued her rant, her voice rattling the antique plates that hung on the walls.

"You're acting as if you're the only one that's been in this mortal body," Armen spoke, steely blue eyes piercing into narrowed, fuming honey brown. With livid motions she thrusts the thick antique oak chair behind her onto the floor, crashing it into tiny, unfixable pieces. Her steps sounded as loud as tromping elephants as she stomped towards Armen. Her hand flew back, a tinge of fire burning in the air as she swung it and made sheer, slapping contact with his human cheek. The flesh appeared scathed, red, and burning but quickly recovered as he stared up at her with angered eyes. Seeing that her slap didn't affect him, her voice pealed from her lips in the form of burning fire, singeing the brown-bricked fireplace with tinges of sooty black and melting the small decorative silk plants that surround the brick.

"Was that really necessary, Evel?" Dagon asked, having not received the wrath of her anger yet. She eyed him evilly, her breath still ragged from the uncontrolled fire spitting. 

"You don't scare me, Evel, you made just as many mistakes as we did in this endeavor," Dagon replied calmly as he draped one arm over the merlot sofa. In doing this, he showed her a delicate fingernail, dimly lit with a small flame of fire. He meant this as a warning, and she took it accordingly, backing off slightly.

"Instead of placing blame, we need to work on a plan."

"And what would be your plan, Father Maxwell?" she asked, sarcastically, sitting quickly next to him on the sofa. He shuttered slightly from the name she'd called him and sighed.

"Gabriel has our woman, which means he's already won," Armen countered from a comfortable place on the floor.

"It means nothing. Just because the Uppers have the girl doesn't mean that they've already impregnated her. The women of this century are extremely independent," Dagon responded.

"So, we can still get her back?" Evel asked, her most feminine Jina voice forward.

"No, but we can impregnate our own woman," he said with a slick smile on his face.

"No more suggestions from you," Evel said standing from the sofa and walking towards the kitchen, "just out of curiosity, which woman would you suggest."

"Are you willing to listen to my plan or not?"

"I'll listen, I can't promise you anything, especially for how stupid it's sounding now."

"Then come over and listen, I'll promise I'll change your mind."


End file.
